Six Pak Spies Arrested From Malerkotla and Haryana, Were In Contact with Pakistan High Commission Official Declared Persona Non Grata

New Delhi: In a major crackdown, six individuals who have been arrested from Punjab's Malerkotla and Haryana were found spying for Pakistan High Commission official Danish, who had been declared persona non grata and was asked to leave India on May 14.

The Central government had recently ordered Pakistan High Commission official Danish to leave India within 24 hours after being declared persona non grata. Following his exit, at least six Pakistani spies operating under his direction have been arrested from Malerkotla in Punjab and Haryana. These individuals were in contact with Danish.

Among those arrested, one has been identified as Jyoti Malhotra, who was in direct contact with Danish. Reports indicate that Danish had arranged a visa for her to travel to Pakistan.

Jyoti Malhotra, a YouTuber who runs her own travel channel, had visited Pakistan and was allegedly sharing sensitive intelligence.

Danish was luring individuals into his trap using visas and money.

Arrested Jyoti Malhotra, attended Iftaar at Pak High Commission, visited Pakistan 

One of the suspected spies, Jyoti Malhotra who runs a YouTube channel 'Travel With Jo' had attended an Iftaar party at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi last year in March and met now declared Person Non Grata Danish alias Ehsan-ur-Rahim. Malhotra also posted a vlog on her YouTube channel sharing her experience of attending the Iftaar gathering. 

In the video, she was seen meeting Pakistani High Commission official Danish and his wife. In her vlog, she expressed her willingness to visit Pakistan and was seen asking people to help her securing a visa.

The six accused arrested over charges of spying for Pakistan and sharing sensitive information have been booked under the Official Secrets Act and other sections of the BNS. They have been sent to five-day remand.

Speaking in the matter, Hisar DSP said, "Yesterday, based on the inputs we had, we arrested Jyoti, daughter of Haris Kumar, under the Official Secrets Act and BNS 152. We recovered some suspicious items from her mobile phone and laptop. She has been placed under a five-day remand, and further investigation is ongoing. She was in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen," said Kamaljeet.

Is Danish, declared as person non grata, an undercover ISI agent

Pakistani High Commission official Danish, who was declared persona non grata by the government following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor, was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. Reportedly, he has been identified as Pakistani citizen Ehsan Ur Rahim, alias as Danish Rahim.

The Centre declared him persona non grata for attempting to access and leak sensitive information to his superiors on behalf of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spying agency.

Danish was employed as a staff member at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Taking action against Danish for his anti-India activities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement on May 13 said, “The Government of India has declared a Pakistani official, working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India. The official has been asked to leave India within 24 hours. Charge d’Affaires, Pakistan High Commission, was issued a demarche to this effect today.”